A series of Russian artificial satellites sent into orbit during the late 1950s. Literally "fellow wanderer" in Russian. Sputnik I made history on October 4, 1957, by becoming the first man-made object put into orbit. Sputnik II would follow later, this time carrying Laika, the first dog in space.

Sputnik I amazed and terrified the American public: the small blipping dome made an orbit every ninety minutes, a symbol of Soviet space supremacy.

I was late to go through puberty and was a junior in high school when my first sputnik got airborne.
Didn't know what I was going to do with my life until landing that sputnik apprenticeship in accounting.